War on Muse
by Roxius
Summary: When Shiga Hitomi, dedicated member of the student disciplinary committee, deems the idol club 'a danger against the students' morals', she takes it upon herself to strike them down one after another, but only one idol's 'hidden darkness' has a chance of halting her misjudged plans. Soon a war begins between Muse and the disciplinary committee. A shonen/action genre parody.
1. Shiga Hitomi

A/N: Shiga Hitomi is a character featured in the Love Live mobile game, School Idol Festival, and you can find more information about her on the wiki for that game, if you're interested, but she definitely is not an OC.

* * *

Four days after the rising star idol group Muse made the announcement of its reentry into the Love Live competition, Shiga Hitomi returned to school after an extended leave of absence. She was a member of Otonokizaka Academy's disciplinary committee, as indicated by the red armband she wore strapped around her right arm. While that seemed to imply her possessing a sort of aura based on fear and intimidation by influence by her occupation, being apart the school's resident police force, the disciplinary committee of this particular school was actually little more than an unspoken joke. They had little say in the matters of the student council, the students of Otonokizaka were so well-behaved that there was rarely an incident to resolve, and the committee barely had enough members to keep supporting itself. Shiga Hitomi herself had intentionally skipped classes and going to school altogether because of these issues.

No, the reason Shiga Hitomi could appear so intimidating and so easily strike fear into the other students was because she was absolutely wild. She was obsessed with strength to an insane degree. She wanted strength to protect the morals of society, but she also wanted those around her to be strong too, or else they could instantly fall prey to humanity's natural faults, and thus, become enemies for her to strike down with the law. It was a vicious cycle, and this young woman refused to let herself get dragged under by it. However, more than a little part of her found great enjoyment in chancing upon strong enemies who opposed her moral values. It was the greatest way to test her strength, after all.

Shiga Hitomi had heard from some friends in the committee about the sudden rise in popularity of the school's idol club. Known as Jin or Boss to those who feared and respected her, Shiga Hitomi was a strict upholder of all good morals; in her opinion, this 'idol club' sounded a little dubious. Dubious enough to drag her back to school, even. Girls who pranced around in cute little uniforms, usually revealing more than a fair share of skin, while singing cute little songs, and making cute little poses with their cute little bodies. It made her feel queasy.

High school girls should not be displaying themselves in such an unacceptable way. Who knew what sort of ideas would fill the freshmen's heads to see their upperclassmen acting that way. Who knew what kind of elderly male deviants might be watching their videos on the internet right at this very second. They weren't the biggest law-breakers this school could have produced, that was for sure, but it still seemed unnatural to let the girls slide by without a firm talking to, at least.

When Shiga Hitomi entered the school building that morning, she decided to head directly to confront the Student Council President herself. She had been quite surprised to hear that the head of the student council herself was apart of the whole charade. Especially when she had been the person who helped set up groups like the disciplinary committee to protect the degradation of morals like this in the first place.

* * *

"Student Council President Ayase Eri! You are under investigation by the Student Disciplinary Committee with allegations of undermining the school's moral codes by your own free will!"

Eri and Nozomi quickly released their embrace as Shiga Hitomi stormed into the council meeting room. Since it was still early in the morning, classes had not yet begun, and the council room itself was completely empty apart from the three women. That was the reason the student council president and her trusty advisor had rendezvoused here at this time, but now with Hitomi present, their current plans had to be immediately dropped; three was a crowd, after all.

"Hello there!" Nozomi smiled ever so innocently, licking some stray saliva off of her lips, "Do you need something from the student council? You're awfully loud for this early in the morning, um...?"

"You're Shiga Hitomi!" Eri exclaimed.

Hitomi nodded. "Yes, that's right. I'm glad that you remember me, Eri. It's been a while since I last saw you, and you really haven't changed much. Not too strong-looking."

"Oh, who is this, Erichi? A jilted ex-lover?" Nozomi teased.

The blonde half-Russian was hasty to deny the accusation, as much of a jab at her as it was. "O-Of course not! Of course not! I just know her from the disciplinary committee!"

She sighed, turning back to Hitomi again, "Hitomi, what are you doing here? This is the first time you've shown up at school in quite a while. I was afraid something had happened to you, but I didn't know what your home address was, or else I would have visited you myself. You were always the most dedicated member of the committee, so your absence was sorely missed."

"Enough with the sweet words, you're always trying to butter somebody up that way. Student President Ayase, I came back to this school because I heard you had joined the idol club recently, in spite of still having duties of the council president. I've watched your group's performance videos on the net, a friend linked them. Don't you get what you're doing to the morals of our fellow students, when you act so shamelessly like this?"

Eri grinned a little to try and hide her terrible confusion. She was getting some bad vibes from the fellow third year, but she couldn't bring herself to turn a committee member away without listening to her opinion fully and lacking any bias. "I'm, er, not sure I'm following?"

"You're dancing around on a stage like a fool, wearing skimpy dresses and singing flirty songs! What's with that?"

"It's kind of a long story, actually," Eri nervously laughed.

"I had hoped you wouldn't end up being my enemy, since I respected your convictions, but I'll do what I have to!" Hitomi curled up her fist and took a swipe at Eri's head, intending to strike the student council president directly at her face. She could feel her fist come in contact with something hard, and for her point of view, it appeared she had successfully struck the other girl. Eri remained standing completely still, her expression hidden behind Hitomi's fist.

"Oh my God!" Nozomi screeched.

Hitomi looked over to Nozomi, clearly indifferent to her cries. "You're the one who likes to grope girls' breasts, aren't you? I probably should have gone after you first; you're even more of a deviant, but you're both in the idol club, so it doesn't really matter!"

"Shiga Hitomi!"

Hitomi gasped, and she could only whisk her attention back to Eri so fast before she was caught with a slap, cracking hard across the face. Eri stood leaning over on Hitomi's right, appearing to have taken no more than a single step to the side, standing away from reach of the disciplinary committee member's outstretched arm while still reaching over it to strike her. Hitomi, her cheek throbbing, looked at Eri with widened eyes. There was a small, red bruise on her forehead, indicating where Hitomi had hit her but Eri's sharp eyes bore down on Hitomi in rage, a glare as harsh and cold as the steel on an old blade. Her slap had stung quite a bit, too.

Hitomi didn't understand; she had surely punched Eri with enough force to knock her to the ground, or even put her out of consciousness. She had even felt the punch make contact.

"What...?"

"Shiga Hitomi, it's against school rules to physically assault another student. You of all people should know that!" Eri shouted.

"But...but I hit you, didn't I...?"

"Yes you did, but that's only because you grazed my face as I was moving out of the way, since you caught me off-guard." explained the student council president, "But please, don't ever do anything like that again! I'm going to be kind because you were absent for so long and neglect writing you up for this, but I believe we're done talking here, Shiga Hitomi. The idol club is going nowhere, it's a great help to raising the school's popularity! I'm not budging on my decision, no matter what you try to do to me!"

Hitomi could only focus on one thing from that entire speech, and it certainly had nothing to do with Eri's devotions to the idol club. "...How did you move that quickly?"

Eri blushed. "Oh, I guess it's because of all the dance training since I've joined the idol club...?"

"Not to mention how Erichi used to be a ballerina-in-training as a young girl. That probably helped too." Nozomi added, giggling.

"Nozomi, s-stop that! She doesn't need to know about any of that!" Eri reprimanded her friend, her face glowing brighter than any spotlight, and she seemed to have almost totally forgotten about Hitomi's clear act of insubordination just before. Nozomi continued to poke and prod at her friend, cackling all the while. Eri was practically shrieking for her friend to stop spilling anymore secrets about her youth.

Shiga Hitomi, however, had her hands and mind full to notice, as she replayed Eri's half-assed explanation over and over. That couldn't have been right. Did practicing in the idol club seriously allow her to move like that? It was one thing to avoid a punch coming from out of nowhere, but even when caught off-guard she jumped out of the way so narrowly that she only suffered the tiniest scrape because of it? It didn't make any sense. It had to have been a fluke, but the young woman believed, or at least wanted to believe, in something more. Hitomi was starting to entertain the idea that the student council president might have been a strong enemy like she'd always hoped to face, which immediately overrode her initial desires to not want to contend against her. She approached Eri.

"Ayase Eri..."

"W-What is it?"

Without warning, again, Hitomi took a swing at the student council president. This time, Eri completely avoided it, twisting her body sideways so that the punch slipped harmlessly past her back. Hitomi swiped at her again and again. Each time, Eri dodged with the gracefulness expected of an experienced dancer, as if it were completely effortless, all of it done entirely on instinct. Eri turned, she ducked, she swerved, lifting her arms and crossing her legs to ensure not a single fleck of skin on Hitomi's battle-trained fists touched her. It brought to mind images from the videos of the idol club's performances she had viewed online. Eri had been especially active in them.

Hitomi couldn't believer her eyes. Could it be...the idol club taught her...? That earlier excitement was really bubbling inside Hitomi's veins now. No one would need to know how to be this quick to avoid the fists of justice unless-

"Is the idol club really a den of villains in disguise?" she asked herself.

"S-Shiga Hitomi!" Eri was shouting now. "If you don't stop this right away, I am going to have to report to the school principal about this!"

Hitomi wanted to continue testing Eri, to see if she could eventually strike her, but suddenly a pair of arms took hold of her from behind. Feminine hands grasped firmly onto her breasts, clenching them with a firm but gentle squeeze.

"Wha-!"

"Nozomi!"

Tojo Nozomi held onto Hitomi from behind, preventing the wild girl from throwing another punch, and she sank her fingers as deeply as she could into the tit-flesh beneath Hitomi's uniform.

"Oh, a 89 bust, eh?" Nozomi purred, her voice like a soft puff of warm air in Hitomi's earlobe, "You're a big girl, despite not being very feminine. You're almost as big as me!"

"Nozomi, what are you doing?" Eri was about ready to throw a fit.

Hitomi could feel Nozomi's fingers rolling up and down the length and width of her breasts, trying to touch every single inch there was to cover, and she knew right away that this woman was even more unscrupulous than she'd ever given her credit for.

"You...you're the real danger to the student body here! You're the one who's disrupting morals without any regard for others' feelings!"

Nozomi pouted. "Now that's not a nice thing to say! I'm just having a little fun, and no one's ever told on me, so it's not like it's hurting anyone! C'mon now!"

"Nozomi, please, this is all getting too out of hand," Eri stated.

Nozomi, in response, just shook her head. "I'm doing this to protect you too, Erichi," she responded in a serious tone as she continued to fondle and squeeze Hitomi's chest. "This girl is trying to attack you, and she isn't going to hold back her punches! We can't stop her with words, so we have to stop her with force!"

"Nozomi...you can't be serious...I mean, really, you just can't be serious..."

"I'm sorry, Erichi; the cards warned me that we would face enemies outside of the Love Live!"

"Nozomi, what are you going to do to her?"

"I'm going," Hitomi tried to struggle free, but Nozomi's grip was abnormally strong for a girl who looked like she'd never lifted a single barbell before, "I'm going to take her down long enough so we can have her detained and suspended. I'm going to use my ultimate groping technique, the one I've spent my whole high school life perfecting!"

"What? But Nozomi, you can't!" Eri cried. "If you do that, I'll have no choice but to write you up for sexual assault, and you'll get suspended! You can't do it! I won't be able to overlook it, so please, don't do it!"

"Yes, it is sort of a sacrificial technique, isn't it? Sorry, Erichi." Nozomi smiled sadly.

"Nozomi! No! Stop being ridiculous! This isn't the right way!"

'These two have been reading too much manga!' Hitomi thought, a girl who watched too much anime before coming to school. During Eri and Nozomi's entire exchange, Hitomi had been steadily, cautiously, working on slipping her right arm free. Nozomi had failed to notice, because Hitomi had kept the movements so slight, and Eri's shouts were only dragging Nozomi's attention further away from the woman she was holding in her arms. All of this talk and arguing about 'ultimate groping techniques' was totally absurd, but it also proved to Hitomi that the idol club was delving in some very dangerous practices. Hitomi's convictions had been solidified; once she removed the student council president and her aide from the picture, she would go after the rest of the idol club and shut them down for good. Her fists would deal out justice accordingly.

Nozomi had felt Hitomi's arm break out of her grasp, but she was already dropping onto her knees after the other girl elbowed her, hard, in the stomach. Nozomi flew into a coughing fit as she clutched her wounded belly.

"Nozomi!" Eri dashed over to her friend's side, running past Hitomi without a second look.

Hitomi turned to face the both of them. She was done playing games, done letting herself be made a fool, done being treated like a non-threat by these two moral-dodging heathens. The idol club had officially incited the full wrath of the upholding student disciplinary committee member named Shiga Hitomi. Reaching behind her, Hitomi knew she had just the weapon in hand to deal with the two young women. Something she had spent two months' allowance on, a weapon designed specifically to take down opponents of the demonic variety.

"Sorry, Erichi, I let my guard down, but I still have my cards! I'll wow her into submission with my future-telling skills!" Nozomi proclaimed, removing a tarot deck from inside her school jacket.

"Whatever you say, Nozomi." Eri stood up, "If you have another plan, we can work on it together. My words won't reach Hitomi's ears anymore. She always was someone with a strange fascination for fighting, even though it's not exactly a thing normal people would regularly engage in." Eri sighed. "We might have to indulge her with this, just this one time."

"Yeah," Nozomi smiled grimly at the prospect.

Hitomi remained silent, brandishing what appeared to be a large, red baton, covered in a litter of tiny bumps.

"W-What is that?" Eri stammered.

Nozomi flushed and chuckled, "Oh my...I've only seen that in certain stores before..."

"It's a weapon for fighting demons, so that I can properly protect the school. I haven't really gotten to try it yet, but I was told it won't kill humans, although it should be enough to subdue you two. It's sad that things have come to this, Student Council President Ayase Eri."

Eri thought that Hitomi was verifiably insane to be carrying around such a ridiculous weapon, but the young woman seemed just as confident in her abilities too. The blonde prepared herself to dodge as soon as Hitomi took the first swing. She spread her legs farther apart, and prepared her arms to give herself just enough space, and enough push against wind resistance, so she could move at her fastest. Eri wasn't going to lay a hand on Hitomi, for striking a fellow student went against her code of ethics as well as school rules, but thanks to her increased stamina since idol training, she was certain she could continuously evade the third year's attacks until Hitomi was forced to surrender out of weariness. Nozomi would help in that regard too; neither of them wished to hurt Hitomi, she simply needed to be properly educated on her mistakes.

Eri had spoken with Hitomi on several occasions before, and knew that she was a good person who had the strongest convictions about justice of anyone in the entire school. Surely this entire conflict could be solved peacefully, with words and not violence.

* * *

Honoka placed her lunch box down onto the table, whereas Umi and Kotori were already digging deep into their own meals while chatting about classes and upcoming scheduling for idol practice.

"Sorry I was late! The teacher held me back, heh heh heh," Honoka removed the top of her lunch box and split her chopsticks apart. Her

"Don't tell me you got reprimanded for sleeping in class again, Honoka!" Umi shook her head, the dismay clear on her face.

Honoka slipped a tiny clump of rice into her mouth. "Well, it was more about grades slipping, but I already have it under control! I've contracted Yukiho to help me study for my tests for the next couple of months!"

"You have to pay your own sister to help you...Honoka, I hope you'll still have time for all of the training we still need to do..."

"Of course I will! Of course I will!"

"You don't sound too reassured about it, Honoka," Kotori teased from the sidelines.

"I'll find some way to make it work! I always do!"

Umi allowed herself to give off the faintest hint of a smile before taking a sip from her green tea. "You always do, definitely. I trust you, Honoka."

"Thanks, Umi..."

"But if you don't, you know we're going to have to come to your house, drag you away from your textbook and carry you up to the school roof for practice, right?" Umi smirked.

Kotori and Honoka exchanged beaming grins, nearly on the verge of bursting into laughter. Instead, they exchanged bites of their food, giggling the whole time. Umi resumed eating by herself, not interested in sharing food, or worse, sharing germs. She kept close watch on her two friends nonetheless.

"Honoka! Kotori! Umi!"

The three second-years looked up to see their underclassman and fellow Muse, Rin, rushing toward them. She was running exceptionally fast, her shoes barely grazing the earth beneath her as she dashed for the table. It was almost like she was flying, hurtling herself through the air, and when she'd finally stopped just short of crashing into the table, the three second-years could have sworn they felt a breeze on their faces.

Rin looked to all three of them, one at a time. Her eyes were bulging wide, and her face was stark white.

"Hey!"

"R-Rin, are you okay?" Umi asked.

Rin shook her head, and a spray of sweat flew from her face. "No...no...no! It's bad, it's really bad! Eri and Nozomi, they're in the infirmary right now! They're badly injured! So much so, they could even...even..." Rin choked before she could dare finish speaking.

Honoka, Umi and Kotori exchanged horrified glances before following after Rin to the infirmary. They needed to see this for themselves.

* * *

It was still break period from classes, but Yazawa Nico had decided to remain in her classroom, eating by herself. She normally shared lunch with the rest of the girls, but recently the tiny third-year had felt she'd hit a sudden burst of inspiration for their next song, and she intended to spend the whole lunch break writing it down, so she could show the others at the next club meeting. She was going to prove to them all that she was good for something outside of providing a club room with her idol obsession. Her ego refused anything less than total respect, maybe even subjugation if they were willing.

Nico wrote at a steady pace, unaware of the wide grin she bore on her lips. She was really confident about her newest song ideas; she had never tried writing lyrics very much before, but then again, she'd never been so driven about it before now. She had only finished some of the first sheet when she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder.

"Yazawa Nico?"

"What is it?" Nico snapped, looking over her shoulder to see a girl wearing some sort of cap over her eyes. She looked like trouble, but Nico wasn't going to be intimidated, in fact the girl was clearly breaking school uniform rules, so if either one of them was in trouble right now, it was this weirdo who'd just shown up.

"You're in the school idol club, aren't you?"

"I'm the founder, actually!" Nico boasted. She liked to tell people that sometimes, even though she left out the rest of the explanation how the original members abandoned her and she initially had tried to sabotage Honoka's efforts to make a idol group for helping the school.

The girl suddenly seemed to tense up. "So that's how it is. Then does that mean, you formed the idol group 'Muse' as well? I asked the student council president but she didn't want to tell me."

Nico thought that definitely sounded unusual, Eri was dedicated to helping students, but she decided to look over that, especially when she considered the other question the girl had presented her. Even though it was Honoka who formed and essentially led Muse in all of its idol-related activities, Nico could not help but use this chance to get herself a little more respect in the classroom. This girl probably knew nothing about Muse, and Nico wouldn't mind at all being the one to teach her.

"Actually, I didn't form the group, but I'm also sort of the Center of the group." Nico was lying through her teeth and she felt only the slightest bit of shame for it.

The strange and irate young woman raised a bumpy, red baton high over her head.


	2. Plans and Super Idols

"Eri! Nozomi! Are you two okay?"

Honoka and Kotori tumbled into the infirmary, shocking the nurse, while Umi, feeling enough embarrassment for all three of them, offered a brief apology to the school's employee and politely showed herself in.

Her overactive imagination taking a gripping hold over her mind as usual, Honoka had feared the very worst; based on Rin's vague descriptions, she believed that her admirable upperclassmen were so badly wounded that they'd been left in a state only one step away from entering the great beyond. Kotori had believed something likewise, while Umi did not know what to expect at all in the first place. However, it seemed that their great many fears were thankfully unfounded; Eri and Nozomi were both sitting up with pillows to prop them, their faces and arms covered in several bandages but otherwise appearing like they'd simply walked into the room and crawled into the beds themselves. Nozomi was nibbling on a meatbun for lunch and Eri had a book lying open on her lap. It seemed to be one of the popular fantasy novels that had come out recently.

Eri addressed her underclassmen and fellow idols with a perfectly straight smile. "Oh, hello! Honoka, Kotori, Umi."

"E...Eri-senpai!" Honoka dropped to her hands and knees, feeling like she could finally breath easy again, like a iron bell had been resting on top of her lungs the entire way to the infirmary. "Oh thank goodness!"

"You're both alive!" Kotori exclaimed with bursting joy.

"Of course we are!" Nozomi replied, equally energetic, after taking another bite of her meat bun.

Umi cast her eyes over at the freshman Rin, who was wringing her hands anxiously while her two friends sat wounded in bed. "You sure made it sound like it was a lot worse than this." Umi pointed out.

Rin threw her hands out. "It is bad! Just look at them! Has anyone in this school ever been injured like this before? Do you three know?"

Honoka considered the question carefully. "No, I don't think so...eh, wait, does this mean you were assaulted, Eri?!" She had assumed these injuries had been caused by idol training gone seriously awry.

"Unfortunately, it did happen," Eri bobbed her head in acknowledgment. "But I believe it's all because of a misunderstanding, a lack of proper communication between the two parties involved. The person who attacked Nozomi and I was only trying to protect what she believed was right, which was the morals of the school and the student body. She wasn't doing this because she held a grudge against us. Honestly, I'm impressed by her energy; she was able to keep up with both of us until WE started tiring out, and that's how we slipped up and got ourselves in this position." the blonde hung her head. "If only Shiga Hitomi hadn't been like this...she would have probably made a good idol..."

"So you know who attacked you, then? It wasn't even like you were blindsided? Then you should report it to the authorities right away!" suggested Umi.

"Umi, I-"

"Erichi says she wants to try and convince Hitomi to change her ways!" Nozomi blurted out, then ignoring the sort of hot, penetrating glare that her beloved friend was sending at her through the corner of her eye. "I told her she was crazy to think that, but she won't listen to me when it matters." Nozomi shrugged.

"You really think that's a good idea, Eri?" Kotori whimpered. "I mean, she attacked you! She...she hurt you..."

"I know, but I guess by having fought her, I came to better understand her as well. We might be able to reach an understanding. It's important as student council president that I am able to resolve these matters in the most professional way possible!"

'Stop reading so much manga, senpai! It's making you believe crazy things about the world and its people!' The three second-years all thought, but none of them did not dare say aloud.

Umi noticed something else worth interrogating about. "But wait, why did she attack you in the first place? That's the most important thing here. Was it because of your position as Student Council President? Did she think you weren't doing a proper ob?"

"She said she wants to take down the idol club, because she thinks we're being 'amoral' or something." Nozomi said as she recalled the assailant's words.

Honoka, Kotori and Umi all gasped. 'Take down the idol club?'

Honoka wrapped her arms around herself, gripping them tightly. She cringed; she abhorred real-life violence, and she certainly did not wish to be dragged into a bad situation that could get her terribly hurt, but at the same time, there was absolutely no way she could ever leave her friends in this state without doing something about it. She enjoyed watching super-powered battles in anime or the matches between wrestlers on television, but after a few shocking instances from her childhood, she didn't have much of a stomach for actual fighting, going on right in front of her eyes. Kotori felt likewise. They had no fighting skills, no training, they would have no chance against someone who could do this to Eri and Nozomi, their school superiors.

Umi, however, felt quite differently in comparison to her two childhood friends. If anything, the facts she'd learned so far, and the amount of danger she was going to place herself in, only seemed to spur her on to do even more. It was strange, it was abnormal, it was completely and utterly unlike any sensation she'd ever experienced considering the circumstances at hand. A mysterious enemy had declared war against the idol club and Muse, and yet...Umi felt no fear. Not an ounce of apprehension. She was not discouraged by 'Shiga Hitomi', whoever she was, and the intentions she had toward the club. Muse would not go down in flames because one person believes they are wrong. Umi may have openly (and loudly) hated having to wear 'sexy dresses' in front of crowds, and she still had a little stage fright now and then, but her head was surprisingly calm and cool right now.

"What year is she in?" Umi asked.

"Third year." replied Eri, turning a page in her book.

"Then, maybe she will go after Nico next? It would be much easier for a third-year to get hold of classroom information about other third-years. They might even share the same class.."

Honoka and Kotori looked at one another, impressed but also a little uneasy. Umi's intuition was the best thing they could trust, right now.

"We better go and find Nico, to get her out of there. Rin, make sure to tell Hanayo and Maki about this too."

"Aye aye, mon capitan!" saluted Rin.

Umi had an idea. "Actually, why don't you bring them over to Nico's classroom along with us? We should all have the chance to speak our say." she suggested.

Eri, while altogether intrigued by her younger colleague's plans, could not help but have a few qualms on its safety and, more importantly, if it was even sane. "Very harasho, Umi, but what do you really intend to do? Why are you being the one to want to confront Shiga Hitomi like this?"

"I'm not really sure myself, but I think I might get what you mean; we can't let Shiga Hitomi push us around, but we can't step back and not try to do anything ourselves. I've learned a lot from both the idol club and my archery club on how perseverance can make all of the difference. I, um, just wanted to stand up for my friends and for my club..."

"You're really good at being a team leader, Umi," Eri beamed. "Maybe you should be the next Student Council President."

Umi squeaked. "P-Please...! I'm not, I'm not worthy of such compliments...!"

Honoka and Kotori chuckled, a momentary lapse from the fear of Shiga Hitomi's looming presence.

"Alright, Umi. I hope that your idea will work, and let's hope that you're not all too late."

Umi nodded, but even though she tried to feel confident, there was still a unfamiliar stirring, in the pit of her chest.

'Even then,' Eri thought to herself, 'Nico might be able to handle things on her own, I doubt even Hitomi would be able to handle that girl and her personality.'

* * *

Shiga Hitomi swung her blade down, intending to separate Yazawa Nico from her consciousness in one, swift strike.

"Hold it!"

Hitomi instantly stopped on a dime. Nico was glaring up at her.

"W-What...?" Hitomi had just now noticed she had been clenching her teeth rather hard for a while now.

"What the heck is that gross thing?" Nico asked, pointing at the 'sword'. "I don't want it touching me."

Shiga Hitomi lowered her sword. "It's a special blade...for fighting demons."

"Demons?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes, that is the purpose it was made for, I was told."

The tiny pig-tailed idol was about ready to burst into a fit of uncontrollable hooting and hollering, all at Hitomi's expense. "What're you talking about? Demons don't exist! That's ridiculous!" Nico did not hold back in the slightest, having far too much fun berating this ridiculous young woman standing before her, "Are you sure you didn't pick that up out of the trash somewhere close to the school? Tell me the truth!"

Hitomi could have been slapped clean across the face just now, and she wouldn't have felt that instance of physical assault any different to the way she was being insulted right now, a rush of hot blood pumping straight into her face and ears. At least the student council president and her aide had been respectful and they tried to understand Hitomi with words, albeit failing as expected. This girl, though, she hadn't even tried to make any effort at all. The idol club was truly a villainous place, to have a girl like this as its founder. Hitomi could feel her fingers getting slick with sweat around her sword's hilt; she couldn't let words like this get to her. Violence was indisputably more effective than words. Hitomi calmed herself, returned to her center, and steeled her mind to try and strike the tiny girl again. Yazawa Nico was only 154 cm, with a very fragile-looking body structure and flimsy little pigtails to boot. Knocking her unconscious should not have turned out to take longer than five seconds.

"Okay, okay, I understand, I'm sorry for insulting you and your sword when I don't even know you," The third-year held up her hands in apology, palms open. Hitomi blinked.

"What?"

"You see, I have a little bit of a habit," Nico's eyes drifted off to the side, and she blushed, like a school girl admitting a crush under the trusted secrecy of her friends, "I act a bit harsh to people I've just met, but I'm really not all that bad of a person, really. I'm the super cute and awesome school idol Nico-Nico-Nii, so I could never be bad, right? It's all just an act. In fact," Nico reached behind and undid her pigtails, letting her raven-black hair cascade down her small back, "I'm actually a rather timid person. This is my true self, hee hee! I must apologize for my earlier actions; it's a front I put up sometimes, I hope we can still be friends!"

Hitomi blanched. This girl, she was insane, absolutely out of her mind, the idol club had scoured her brain of any sense or logic and left her with nothing but an empty shell for a brain. Was she actually a foul-tempered girl who openly mocked others, or was she actually this sweet but naive young woman who seemed to be admitting to having a split-personality? Hitomi couldn't tell what was truth and what was fiction with this girl. First the insults had thrown her off-guard, and now this! What was this girl's angle?

'Whereas the Student Council President had her super-dodging, and the aide had her super-groping, this girl...she has a super-ego! She does what she wants and says what she wants without any hesitation!' Hitomi thought while being completely serious about it at the same time.

Nico, meanwhile, felt like she'd just barely made a close save. 'Geez, I almost forgot to pull out my 'idol' personality there...I need to remember that that's all part of the idol lifestyle. I've spent months practicing for something like this. If I act as sweet and cute as possible and build up an army of groupies, I can really take Center!'

Nico forced her biggest, cutest smile yet. 'I nearly messed up; I hope this dumb chick will ignore that whole bit about me making fun of her weird sword just now,'

Hitomi struck Nico across the face with her sword. Nico slumped against her desk, unconscious before she even dropped.

'Thank goodness she's finally out,' Hitomi thought. Nico was not strong, but she was powerful all the same; she was giving Hitomi such a terrible migraine. Had their confrontation lasted any longer, had Hitomi allow herself to hesitate...the disciplinary committee member shivered at the mere consideration of her potential fate. Yazawa Nico was an anomaly, was she a good person or a bad person? Maybe she was just a 'tsundere', after all.

Fortunately, because of lunch, Hitomi had been able to get away with this act of assault unseen. She lifted Nico's limp body into her arms, draped her over her shoulders, and carried her slowly toward the classroom door. Nico may have been her enemy, as were the rest of the idols she had to hunt down, but she wasn't going to simply abandon a 'corpse' in the middle of a classroom like that. It would only disrupt the lives of her fellow students further. She was going to bring Nico to the infirmary, as she had done with Eri and Nozomi after defeating them.

"Ah! Nico! Oh no!"

Shiga Hitomi spun around. Her eyes hardened, and her blood started to pump through her hardened veins once again. She was being confronted by several young woman, all of them quite definitely resembling the girls she'd seen in the videos online, and the one in the lead was probably the 'cutest' of them all. Her piercing yellow eyes could have stripped away the loins of a weaker woman.

"We were too late..." Honoka murmured.

"What do we do, Umi?" Kotori cried.

Umi took a deep breath. "Please, put her down now."

Hitomi remained silent. She could have said 'I'm trying to help her', but she knew they would never believe her. They had no reason to believe her.

So she took off running.

"After her!"


	3. The Disciplinary Committee

"I'm on it!"

"Go, Rin!" Hanayo cheered.

Shiga Hitomi felt something like a gust of wind on the back of her neck. She turned her head, peeking over the unconscious Nico, and she saw that Hoshizora Rin was practically on top of her already. Hitomi's eyes bulged; this girl was fast. Incredibly fast. In fact, she must have been standing farthest back than any of the girls when they first approached her, and now she was about to be outrun by this little speed demon with the orange bobcut and cat-like smirk on her lips. If Eri had her dodging abilities, Nozomi had her groping, and Nico with her super-ego, then this Rin girl must have had super-speed! Shiga Hitomi thought she had it all figured out.

In truth, this was something of an exaggeration on Hitomi's part. Rin did not have anything to what could be compared to 'super-speed'; a professional track runner or athlete would easily be able to beat her. However, Rin was still large above average for her running speed as a second-year female high school student, and Hitomi did not take into account the other fact that she was being weighed down by carrying the unconscious Yazawa Nico on her back. Nonetheless, Rin was certainly the fastest Muse, and she already had her hand gripped around the hem of Nico's skirt.

"Let Nico go!" Rin shouted.

"I'm trying..." Hitomi struggled, "...To help her! She has to go to the infirmary! She's no longer an enemy now that I've dealt with her!"

"You're the one who hurt her in the first place! And you hurt Eri and Nozomi! I can't forgive you for that!" exclaimed the fast girl. She pulled with all of her might, and Hitomi found herself suddenly tipping backwards, her hold on Nico slipping. Rin realized what she'd done by accident just as Nico collided into her, followed by Hitomi, and all three girls came crashing down onto the hallway floor.

"Rin!"

"Nico!"

"Owwie owwie owwie!" Rin sat up, clutching her throbbing head and letting loose a whine. Nico laid splayed out beside her. still lacking any sort of signs of consciousness.

Shiga Hitomi leaped back onto her feet.

"How dare you!" she swung at Rin, half-expecting the first-year to perform a similar feat like Eri's, dodging the punch just barely by the skin of her teeth, but still avoiding the brunt of the hit. However, that did not happen: Hitomi's fist connected, with a loud crack, and Rin nearly flew backwards before slapping a hand over the aching wound and wailing. When she removed her hand, the wound on Rin's forehead was revealed to be quite a nasty bruise.

"Ah! You hit me...!"

"Oh my God! Rin!" Hanayo shrieked.

"This is getting violent! I don't like this!" Kotori cried, tossing an uneasy glance over at Umi, whose tense facial expression could have implied she was silently contemplating the various methods of torture that should be performed on the unruly discipline committee member for her transgressions against the idol club. Umi's hands curled into fists, drawn in so tight, her fingers could have almost pierced through the skin.

"You're a strong enemy; almost as strong as the Student Council President and her aide. You should have been able to take that one."

"I...I don't like being punched!" Rin snapped back, still rubbing her forehead.

"I had assumed you would dodge it, considering how quick you are on your feet."

"Well, I'm still sitting down right now, so I couldn't move if I wanted to!" Rin moaned, "Now I have a headache..."

Rin's speed and Eri's speed were actually quite different, not that Hitomi noticed it nor even Rin and Eri themselves ever have acknowledged it. Eri's dodging capabilities did not extend into increased running speed, she was simply more talented in twisting and swinging her body in quick, sudden bursts to avoid being attacked, as well as being smart enough to get a read of the situation at hand. Rin, on the flip-side, had her speed and her stamina both, but she was not exactly the smartest member of Muse, and she could easily run herself straight into a trap before she'd even realized it. She didn't have the same sort of thought process as Eri; her precognitive abilities were next to none.

"Leave Rin alone!" Hanayo started to finally move for her friend's aid. Umi grabbed her by the arm just as she started to pass.

"Wait, Hanayo, I don't want you to get hurt too."

"But, Rin-"

"Rin's tough, she can take a hit to the head or two." Umi told her, her eyes hardened like a battle-weary general's, "We'll help her if Hitomi tries to hurt her anymore, but...she doesn't seem like she's really trying, either."

"I still don't feel right about this...we shouldn't have to fight...we shouldn't..." Hanayo hung her head, but she did not try to take another step forward, eventually drawing back completely to Honoka, Maki and Kotori. The girls knew that it was difficult to accept standing on the sidelines while they watched this all go on, but it had been part of Umi's plan. If they all ganged up on Hitomi, it would seem like they were assaulting her, and the disciplinary committee was doing its job, so they couldn't say they were wrong in anything but abuse of power. Throwing too many punches wouldn't solve this problem. Rin was their best chance to get back Nico.

Shiga Hitomi made a personal decision to ignore the girl called Rin for now, as she was already making such a fuss over being struck just once; she wouldn't make for much of a good opponent aside from her speed. A person who cried easily over the slightest pain was not someone who could be deemed 'strong' with a straight face. It was not someone worth her time or effort; Rin did not have the cunning or the bravado of the Student Council President and her aide. Hitomi attempted to scoop Nico's tiny body into her arms again.

"Rin, you have to stop her!" Umi shouted. Hitomi's head snapped up in response, surprised to hear the second-year speak, which had been part of Umi's intention. Just because they couldn't fight back didn't mean they couldn't use other methods to interrupt the enemy. She didn't know where all of these sudden plans were coming from. Still, Umi was happy that it worked. Rin was already on the move. Hitomi felt the rush of the wind before she could even make out what she'd just seen. She whipped her head around so fast she could have gotten whiplash, and only a few feet away, she was stunned to see Rin skidding to a halt, Nico hanging like a limp rag and clutched preciously in her trembling arms.

Rin breathed. "I...I did it!"

"Awesome, Rin!" Hanayo cheered, feeling like she could cry. Honoka and Kotori embraced, and Umi allowed a faint smile to break out on her grim face. She was happy that Rin had succeeded, but that was only the first step. Now she had to get back to their side without Hitomi interfering, and that was highly unlikely, because the unintentional effect of Rin's actions was gaining the increasing ire of Hitomi herself. Thinking about what Hitomi tried to do, for the sake of justice, hurting her closest friends like this...it made something shiver from deep inside Umi's core.

"Shiga Hitomi, you have to stop doing this. Hurting others because they don't act the way you like is wrong. Can't we just let this go now? Please?" Umi called out to her, hoping she would listen to reason for once.

Shiga Hitomi grinned wryly; she might have been too hasty to judge Rin an unworthy opponent after all.

"I'm honestly impressed, actually. I knew you were all ruffians who wanted to corrupt society's morals with all of your dancing and leg-flashing, but, I never thought you would all be so skilled in battle too. I've not fought people like the idol club in a very, very long time."

"Hitomi! Please! We can end this now and put this whole thing behind us!"

Shiga Hitomi raised her fists, ever defiant. "You can't...stop me from getting her medical treatment..."

"Is she crazy or something?" Honoka cried, and then she felt a pair of arms ensnare her from behind. The second-year only had the chance to let out a gasp before she was pulled back. She felt something encompass her head, smothering her deep into it until all she could see was darkness. It was something soft...and large. Honoka tried to scream, but it was like even her lungs were being gripped tight, and she couldn't form a single word. It was a terror that Honoka had never known to experience before. Sinking deeper and deeper into the unfathomable darkness, it was like akin to drowning.

Kotori had already started to reach for her needle and spool of thread subconsciously, which she always carried around inside of her school bag. "S...stop that! You're going to strangle her, whoever you are!"

The woman holding Honoka captive was not really holding her captive at all; she was simply giving the young woman a passionate hug. She was tall, with a violet bob-cut and breasts, big and plentiful breasts that seemed to possibly outrank any other girl in the entire academy. Honoka's face was lost between them, and her head was disappearing along with it. Kotori nervously swallowed; she had never imagined there would be a high-school girl with a bust actually greater than Nozomi's.

"We're the disciplinary committee! Don't you see the bands we wear on our arms? We're here because we found out from the Student Council President that there was a little scuffle between you people and one of our own! Where is that idiot? Shiga Hitomi! What do you think you're doing?"

Kotori heard the shrill little voice, but the woman embracing Honoka had not moved her lips once. There was a cough. Kotori's eyes were drawn downward, and she saw that there was another girl beside the busty one: a very tiny girl with small pigtails and a tightly knit brow. She would have looked absolutely adorable had she not tried to appear so ferocious with her angry look. She had to have been a first-year, judging by the youth of her face, but for her to be so small then even Nico towered over her. For Yazawa Nico to be able to stand above you in height...Kotori felt instant pity for the miniature girl.

"My condolences."

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

Shiga Hitomi looked over at the two new arrivals, and her eyebrows raised high enough to disappear underneath her cap.

"Chizuko Sakamaki! Chairman Fukuhara! What are you two doing here?"

* * *

A/N: I realized that a nine on one battle would not be very interesting or long, and while I didn't intend this to be a super-long story, I decided to bring in Chizuko Sakamaki and Mikoto Fukuhara from Love Live School Idol Festival, as they are both characters on the same disciplinary committee as Hitomi. You can look up more information about them.


	4. Onward to Battle

"Ericchi?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think those two girls could really stop Hitomi from hurting Nico or the others? I don't think I've ever seen them around before."

"Well..."

Eri pondered on what Nozomi had asked her. Not long after Umi and the other Muses had departed to rescue the other third-year, the Student Council President had been approached in the infirmary by another group; the chairman of the disciplinary committee, Fukuhara Mikoto, and one of Hitomi's contemporaries, Sakamaki Chizuko. They had heard about Hitomi's transgressions, apparently from a student witness, and they intended to deal with her themselves. Eri figured she could have trusted them, because in spite of her diminutive size, Mikoto was very capable at her job and in enforcing the school rules. However, there was also something, a slight unease, that Eri also felt whenever she thought back to them. Chizuko was a mystery, but Mikoto's overall sense of justice did not deter much from Hitomi's, and Mikoto had expressed vocal displeasure regarding Muse before. It was like asking your enemy to take care of your enemy. Still, surely Mikoto would understand that upholding good social morals meant that she could not allow violence to pass, so Hitomi would finally have to back down.

"I think there's a good chance it will work."

Nozomi wasn't particularly convinced, and she threw off the bed covers, getting to her feet in spite of her injuries. She had not been as wounded by Hitomi's assault as Eri had been, and whenever she thought about that Chizuko woman, a strong and powerful longing stirred deep inside of her. She had to confront that girl and get some proper answers out of her. She could feel herself being drawn to her in both body and mind.

"N-Nozomi, what're you doing?" Eri cried.

Nozomi threw on her school jacket and started to button it. "I'm sorry, Ericchi. There are some things that a woman has to do, no matter how what the consequences are." she replied.

"I don't get you at all!"

Nozomi smiled, replying, "I think you're cute when you're scared and confused, Ericchi."

The blonde Japanese-Russian's entire face lit up like the star on top of a Christmas tree. Nozomi thought that was even cuter.

"I promise I'll be back before you know it!"

* * *

'Wait...wait...what just happened?'

It was not Shiga Hitomi who thought this, or even Umi or Honoka. It was Rin, who was still standing on rigid, trembling legs with the unconscious Nico draped in her arms. She could not believe what had happened, once she replayed the events through her mind, although everyone else appeared too distracted by the new arrivals to notice it themselves. Rin had always been fast, faster than the other girls in school or the other Muses, but what she'd accomplished in just that moment, when she slipped Nico right out from underneath Hitomi...that was way too fast. She shouldn't have been capable of that feat, at least not to the extant that she did.

'What happened to me for a moment there?' she wondered with a cold sweat trickling down the back of her neck. Nico mumbled in her sleep, nuzzling her head against Rin's abdomen.

"Chairman, I can explain perfectly what I'm doing here right now. I am fighting for the sake of this school's, no, this society's morals! This idol club is producing troublemakers and deviants out of its members!"

Umi scowled. The last person who should be talking about troublemakers and deviants was this girl who threw her fists out at anyone she thought was an 'enemy'.

The chairman put her tiny hands over her tiny hips and frowned. "Shiga Hitomi, you've attacked two people already, and now you want to hurt more! And one of the people you attacked was the Student Council President, who could easily take away all of our funding and have the committee shut down! Once again, you aren't thinking at all! Honestly, I was happy at first when I heard you'd come back to school, but now I regret it! You always were the bad seed of our group!"

Hitomi winced, the drive to fight already slipping away from her. She was a third-year and Mikoto was a first-year, but Hitomi had no choice but to obey her.

"I'm so happy that someone has finally shown up to talk some sense in her!" Umi said.

Mikoto nodded. "I'm very sorry for everything my subordinate has done. I don't approve of the idol club, but you have never done anything to personally incite retaliation from the disciplinary committee...and I really did like your performances last year...so I am willing to look past all of this and ask for forgiveness."

Umi looked over to Kotori, a smile wide on her face. "Isn't this great, Kotori?"

Kotori, however, had her sights set somewhere else. Umi followed her friend's line of vision, and realized she was looking at Chizuko, who was still holding Honoka's head deep between her breasts. Honoka was not moving, and even her arms and legs had gone slack. The color quickly drained itself from Umi's face.

"Honoka!"

"Oh, this little second-year was so cute, I couldn't help but cuddle her! It's just a friendly greeting, there's nothing to worry about," Chizuko assured them.

"You're going to strangle her!"

"Stop it! Please!"

Maki, who had been quietly watching from the sidelines until now, finally stepped forward. She placed her hand at the tip of Chizuko's shoulder, and slid it down all the way until she reached the young woman's elbow, her long, slender fingers rapidly tapping against her arm, as if she were playing the keys of a piano. Chizuko suddenly felt her arm go numb as it dropped limply to her side, releasing Honoka at the same time. Kotori rushed in to grab her friend just before she could hit the ground. Umi, meanwhile, was too stunned by Maki's actions to even move.

"Oh my, it seems my arm has gone to sleep!" Chizuko remarked with an unnaturally cherry giggle.

"Don't worry, you'll get the feeling back in your arm in a moment," Maki told her, her expression as apathetic as any other day, "I just stunned your nerves and muscles by attacking the pressure points with just enough force, and by jostling your bones a little. I learned these things from my mother, although I'm not sure why a surgeon like her knows any of this in the first place..."

"Amazing!"

"Honoka!" Kotori cried. She started to lean her head down to hear for any signs of breathing or a heart-beat.

"She's breathing." Maki reassured Kotori.

"E-Eh?"

"I can hear her heartbeat and her breathing from up here, my ears are really good like that. Honoka will be okay, but she might be out for a bit."

"Oh..." Kotori started to tear up, "Oh, thank goodness..." she pressed her face into Honoka's hair as she held her, "I was...so worried..."

Mikoto's heart jumped a beat. She had always worked so hard to uphold the morals of society, even at the expense of her own health and time. She put so much effort into everything she did, but no one ever took her or her committee seriously, because Otonokizaka Academy rarely ever experienced issues such as student crimes or breaks from authority. The efforts of the discipline committee, and the efforts of Mikoto herself, were always tossed aside and ignored. But now she had finally been given a chance to prove the committee's use, and that was by bringing down the idol club, who had not only tempted students into wearing repulsively revealing outfits and wasting precious study time with dancing and singing, but they had just attacked a member of the committee, the greatest offense of all. Mikoto may have honestly enjoyed Muse's music, but she could live without there ever being another album. It seemed she had been right in ordering Chizuko to embrace one of them once they'd arrived.

"You...you just attacked Chizuko! You attacked her, right in front of me! You just broke the school rules!"

"W-What?" Maki jumped.

"Hitomi may have attacked you first, but now I've personally seen you strike back at us, which makes you just as in the wrong!"

"Hold on, I wasn't trying to do anything like that-"

"As Chairman of the Student Disciplinary Committee, I declare you are all guilty as charged, and you need to be taught a lesson in disrupting the peace of society!" Mikoto was on a roll now.

"No! Hold on! This is getting ridiculous!" Umi was waving her hands desperately. Kotori helped Honoka over to the side and had her positioned against the wall for support. Honoka appeared to be coming back from her near-death experienced; color was returning to her cheeks, and she coughed, nearly hacked all over Kotori. The silver-haired girl was simply overjoyed that her friend was alright, thanks to Maki's timely intervention.

"I'm going to report everything you've done to the Principal, and-"

"Stop it! I'm sick of all of this fighting! Just leave us alone already, because if there's anyone who's been disrupting 'morals' or 'laws' or 'society' here this whole time, it's been you three!" Hanayo shouted at the top of her lungs. She had listened to everything Hitomi and Mikoto had been saying from the start, and she couldn't stand one more second of it; she was so furious, she had never felt anything like this before, and it frightened her, but even more, it made her want to do something to the one who had inspired this much anger in the first place. Her fists were clenched tight and trembling.

"Kayo...chin..." Rin gasped.

Mikoto turned to glare at Hanayo, and now she knew that there was no going back, not for either of their groups. "I'm only doing all of this for the sake of justice, you know."

Chizuko continued to beam pleasantly at the unnerved Maki, while Hitomi, sensing the mood and understanding full-well that Mikoto had finally seen the 'light' in dealing with Muse, turned her attention back onto Rin, so she could try one last time to retrieve Nico. As she withdrew her demon-slaying baton from within her jacket, Shiga Hitomi could not have felt more enticed to take on this worthy foe a second time.


	5. Maki vs Chizuko

"Oh, who are you? What's your name? I don't believe I've ever spotted you around the halls before," Chizuko's beaming smile seemed incredibly phony, like it had been painted on the night before and left to dry until the next morning, and the way she spoke, acting so calm and friendly despite her limp arm and the circumstances around them, made the redheaded pianist uneasy.

Maki shook her head. "Why would you ask something like that? We've probably passed each other once or twice before! This school isn't that big."

"No, that couldn't be." Chizuko was the one to shake her head this time.

"W-Why not?"

"Because I would have hugged you on sight, and I remember the face of everyone I hug!" Chizuko's horrifying grin stretched itself across her face like a snake slinking through tall grass. A deadly python searching for its next meal.

Maki shrugged, trying to keep her composure. "So what...? That's just ridiculous, and as if I'd ever let you hug me! I have my right to personal space!"

Chizuko's smile flickered, but only briefly. "You wouldn't have a choice in the matter."

"Eh?"

"I love giving big, big hugs whenever I meet someone new," Chizuko raised her arms to reveal that she had already healed from Maki's earlier attack, "An there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Maki felt sweat run down the back of her neck. She was beginning to wonder if she'd made the right decision, confronting this girl head-on like this. She was insane, her kindness just a weak facade.

Kotori held Honoka's head up as she cradled her over the floor, Umi kneeling beside her. Honoka had yet to regain consciousness after nearly being strangled by Chizuko's sneak-attack, but her breathing had somewhat steadied, and Kotori could have wept right then and there she was so relieved. Umi watched Maki and Chizuko's confrontation, her brain racing to come up with a plan, some sort of strategy she could offer the first-year. She had to do something...it was her responsibility, because this had been all her fault in the first place...she had to help her, somehow...she couldn't let these people close down the idol club or disband Muse over some crooked view on 'justice' or 'morality'...

Umi could feel a rdull, continuous pounding coming from deep inside of her being, but she didn't know if it was her heart, her head, or something else entirely. It scared her. It made her want to leap right into the fray and take the situation into her own hands. But how could she? She couldn't leave Honoka's side, and the first-years seemed determined to stand their ground.

"Now, give me a hug, cutie!" Chizuko approached Maki.

"S-Stay back!" Maki shouted, but she did not make any unnecessary moves. She tried to control her trembling, but it was difficult, as the fear pawed and scratched at her mind like a cat playing with a ball of string. Nonetheless, she was already formulating a counter-attack in her mind at that very moment. When Chizuko attempted to ensnare her in an embrace, Maki would quickly side-step to the right, pulling her arms and legs in to prevent from being grabbed, and immediately after, while Chizuko was momentarily stunned, she would shoot her hand out and make the older girl's arm go numb again. Her exquisitely trained ears, after years of music and singing practice, could pick up the sound of Chizuko's heart. It was beating at a normal rhythm, completely calm; she showed no hint of anticipation for what Maki was intending to do. All the better for the redhead.

Chizuko was close enough, and she started to bring her arms in for the hug. Seizing the moment, Maki moved-

"You can't escape my hugs, darling~"

Maki gasped. She was still standing in front of Chizuko, or rather, Chizuko was now standing in front of her again.

She swiftly dodged to the right a second time, but Chizuko was already there, and she had Maki cornered. Maki attempted to perform the pressure-point attack in spite of the charred remains of her plan, but Chizuko evaded it by raising and dipping her arms over and around her, keeping them just out of Maki's reach.

She was faster than anticipated, considering how large she was when taking into account both her impressive height and even more impressive breast size. She might have been bigger than Nozomi, even. Yet none of it impeded her at all. Chizuko seemed as impervious and as towering as Mt. Fuji itself.

Maki faltered; she had terribly underestimated her opponent and now she was going to pay. She stood perfectly still, like a statue. Chizuko's arms were starting to slip over her shoulders, and soon they would press into her back and thrust her straight into Chizuko's heaving bosom. Maki wasn't about to have that. She was a school idol, so she wasn't someone who rolled over and played dead so easily.

She grabbed Chizuko's arms and she attempted to force them away. She planned at tapping on any pressure points she could locate, but Chizuko was nearly on top of her now, she couldn't concentrate long enough to find them. On Chizuko's right arm, she grasped hold of her Disciplinary Committee band. Maki's body was so desperate and moving so swiftly that her mind couldn't even comprehend her own actions anymore. She tugged on it fruitlessly.

Chizuko stopped. Maki was pulling the armband along the length of her arm, but Chizuko took the girl's wrist and squeezed, hard enough to make her release it voluntarily.

"Now, now, sweetie, that armband isn't yours, and it's very special to me, so please don't try to rip it. Just let me smother you in my breasts and everything will be alright! Don't try to fight it!"

Maki let loose a piercing screech. It was a howl that sent reverberations through the windows, and it was like the devil itself was about to split open the gates of hell themselves and arrive on Earth. Everyone in the vicinity turned to look at her.

"No! No no no no no no no no no! I can't take this! Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

She slapped Chizuko across the cheek with her free hand. Chizuko lost her grip, and Maki broke free instantly. She pushed her assailant away, breathing heavily in rapid gasps of air, and the first-year began dashing away in the opposite direction of the fight.

She'd lost all will to continue.

"I'm done! I'm out of here! I'm not putting up with any of this anymore!" Maki shouted.

"M-Maki! Come back! That's the wrong way! Where are you going?" Rin called out to her.

"I'm going home!"

"Maki!"

"I wanted nothing to do with this anymore! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I believe in all of you! Text me about what the homework for tonight is, too! Tell Nico to call me when she wakes up too!"

"Maki! Don't leave!"

"It's...it's not like I don't like you guys or anything, I just think this whole thing is totally ridiculous!"

Muse and the Disciplinary Committee watched, utterly flabbergasted and even a little mortified, as the energetic tsundere flung herself around the corner at the end of the corridor, and she instantly vanished from sight and sound.

"Oh dear, I made her upset; I need to apologize to her later," Chizuko pouted as she gingerly rubbed the bruise on her cheek. "That poor girl...she was so cute, too...if only I could have gotten to hug her..."

"Oh no, Maki's gone! What're we going to do?" Umi cried to no one in particular. The pounding was getting stronger than ever, as if an entire armada of festival drums was banging in her head. She gripped her head in her hands and shivered.

Kotori gulped.

"I know what we have to do," she said.

"What?" Umi snapped back to attention.

Kotori handed Honoka over to Umi, but not before she gave her unconscious best friend's hand a tight squeeze. She stood up.

"I'll take care of her myself!"

"Kotori, come on...! You can't-"

Kotori kept her eyes pinned on the opponent in front of her. "I'm more than just a pretty face for you to gush over, Umi!" she snapped back.

"I...I never..." Umi blushed.

Kotori opened her bag. She unsheathed a handful of sewing needles and several spools of brightly-colored thread in her hands. Chizuko gasped. Umi wanted to beg for her friend to reconsider, but she knew it would do no good here. The pounding in her head had lessened, but as she stared at Kotori's back, which suddenly seemed so large all of the sudden, Umi could not keep her fears and misgivings from taking hold of her.

"I'll protect Muse and Honoka too, with everything I've got!"

"Kotori!"

Chizuko smiled; she didn't entirely understand what these two second-year girls were blathering about, but if all this meant she had another cutie she could try and snuggle with, then she didn't mind not understanding. Kotori was not as cute as Maki, at least in her opinion, but she would do. She would do nicely.


End file.
